PITMAN — Darnell Foreman intercepted a pass near half-court for the Pitman High School boys basketball team and took it the length of the floor for the go-ahead layup inside the final minute.

The lead didn’t last long as St. Augustine sophomore point guard Sa’eed Nelson drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession and the Hermits hung on to win, 55-52, Thursday night in non-league action.

“That’s what he’s been doing all year ... we’ve won so many big games like that,” Hermits head coach Paul Rodio said of Nelson. “I wanted the ball in his hands. He knew it, he went to get it and I knew he would finish it.”

The Panthers used an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to get back within a point, but Nelson went the length of the floor following a Foreman layup to cap the run.

After a corner-3 from Matt Spicer, Foreman gave the Panthers their first lead since right before halftime. But Nelson once again had an answer, scoring the next five points of the game from the free throw line.

“When you play a good team, they always have weapons,” said Foreman. “With good coaches, they always have plays. We have to find a way to win a game. We couldn’t do it this time, but we’ll definitely learn from it.”

“We’ve been working on (free throws) all year at practice and it’s really paying off,” added Nelson.

The Panthers came out of the gate fast, starting the game on an 11-3 run. They pressured the Hermits into some bad shots in the opening quarter and used their ability to grab the rebound to start their offense.

CONNECT WITH US!

Things started the same in the second quarter, as the Panthers extended their lead to 25-10 midway through the quarter. But a 3 from Kevin Kennedy gave the Hermits all the momentum.

They finished the half on a 17-2 run, and when you add in the third quarter outscored the Panthers 31-7 over that time frame — Foreman was the only Panther to score during that time.

“We’ve done it 12 or 13 times all year, these kids have fallen back a little bit, taking everyone’s best shot and come back and they did that again tonight,” said Rodio, who became the third coach in New Jersey to win 800 games on Tuesday.

“We just got a little sloppy,” added Foreman. “We started turning the ball over, a couple of unforced errors, that really just got us in a funk. We missed a couple of shots, they hit shots and we couldn’t rebound from that.”

Foreman helped keep the Panthers in the game, scoring 10 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. But Nelson’s 11 in the quarter, he finished with a game-high 22, was too much for the Panthers to overcome.

“I’ve coached some great guards and some great players and I haven’t seen many be able to do what he did, he just took over,” said Rodio. “I’m so proud of him and the rest of them, just a great job by them.“I can’t ask for much more from a group of young kids than they gave me out there.”